


teddy bear.

by seekrest



Series: febuwhump 2020. [16]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: (kind of), (staying at home is just a lot harder than it looks), Established Relationship, Existential Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Peter Parker Has a Family, Peter Parker is a Good Dad, Protective Michelle Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22757086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: “This is the stuff of nightmares.”Michelle rolls her eyes, Peter watching as she takes off her jacket before closing the door behind her.“Nightmares?” She asks, Peter groaning dramatically as he taps a pen against their kitchen table, gesturing around the messy living room.“My nightmare, specifically.”
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: febuwhump 2020. [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619581
Comments: 14
Kudos: 141
Collections: Peter Parker is a Good Dad





	teddy bear.

**Author's Note:**

> The first entry in barely addressing the prompt but you know what? It’s fine. We need more dad!peter content and until I get more, I’ll do it myself.

“This is the stuff of nightmares.”

Michelle rolls her eyes, Peter watching as she takes off her jacket before closing the door behind her.

“Nightmares?” She asks, Peter groaning dramatically as he taps a pen against their kitchen table, gesturing around the messy living room. 

“My nightmare. Specifically. It’s like the _second_ I clean up after Ben he just,” Peter makes a sound that’s a mix between a groan and a sigh, running the hand that he had extended out towards the living room through his hair as he shakes his head, “turns around just blows through like a tornado and messes everything up again.”

Michelle laughs at that, side stepping one of Ben’s many teddy bears as she walks over to him and leaning down for a kiss, Peter closing his eyes as she does before she leans back and says, “So what you’re saying is that you’re experiencing karmic justice right now?”

Peter frowns as Michelle tries - and fails - to fix his hair, eyes on her as she moves away from their kitchen table and towards the kitchen, no doubt grabbing the food he had saved for her in the microwave as he sighs. 

“Karmic justice? How?” He asks, turning around in his chair as he hears the microwave beep, Michelle leaning her head out to give him a look.

“Do you or do you not remember what our first year of marriage was like?” 

Peter puts a hand out, narrowing his eyes as he scoffs. “I wasn’t _that_ bad--”

“Don’t,” Michelle puts a finger up, the microwave beeping as she goes to take the food out before the sound inevitably wakes up Ben - Peter wondering how the child of two heavy sleepers could’ve been the exact opposite - when she walks back in, setting the hot plate down beside Peter. “Don’t even try and rewrite history, Pete. We have enough white guys in the world that do that.” 

Peter is tempted to roll his eyes but then doesn't, pressing his lips firmly together before saying, "I'm not trying to--"

"I'm _joking_ with you, Peter damn." Michelle laughs, her eyes turning a little softer as she picks the fork he'd laid out for her up, bringing her free hand to his shoulder. "You okay?"

Peter chews the inside of his cheek, a massive internal debate in his mind on how much he actually wanted to unload on Michelle on what was essentially her lunch hour.

Her coming home for lunch in the middle of a busy workday - something she wasn't _always_ able to do but tried to as much as she could - was something Peter always looked forward to, the few chances he really got the chance to see her as much as he wanted to and one of the few chances he got to really have any kind of adult interaction.

It'd been a mutual decision, Peter's idea really - that Spider-Man take a back seat for the first six months after Ben was born. Part of it was to give Michelle some sense of peace in knowing that everything would be okay for the three of them, knowing she didn't really struggle with the idea of going back to work so soon but rather almost felt guilty that she _didn't_ feel guilty - something Peter told her time and time again that she shouldn't.

Another part of it was something that Peter had both looked forward to and dreaded since the moment that he had heard the baby's heartbeat in the apartment, two weeks before Michelle had ever bought the test to confirm it.

The idea that being Spider-Man would eventually take him away from the two of them, wanting in a small secret way to have some quiet and happy memories of a life where he wasn't burdened by the responsibility that he'd carried with him in his heart since he was sixteen.

It was a good thing, Peter knew it - to have something of a break from moonlighting as a vigilante, trusting that the city was in capable hands with Sam staying in the city while he stayed at home and another hero who called herself Ms. Marvel that Peter had only met once and even being a decade older than her, admired.

But the consequence of staying at home and of not being Spider-Man had made Peter feel... lost for lack of a better term, without a purpose driving him other than the many and unrelenting needs of Ben.

It was something that he knew he could share with Michelle, never once feeling like he couldn't share _everything_ with her - and yet feeling that if he allowed her to know just how lonely he was feeling, that she would try to find a way to fix it in a way that would defeat the purpose of him staying at home in the first place.

Peter puts on his best face forward and smile, putting a hand to cover the one she has extended towards him as he says, "I'm fine, MJ. Promise."

Michelle narrows her eyes again, Peter seeing immediately that she doesn't believe him as she lets go of his hand, moving the food around and focusing her attention back on the plate before she takes a bite.

Michelle moans so loud that Peter has to hold back a laugh, watching as she shakes her head and goes for another bite before saying, "Fuck, you've gotten good at this."

Peter shrugs nonchalantly, hoping that she'll let his lie go as he says, "I picked up a few things, especially since May's specialty is boxed mac and cheese."

Michelle's mouth is full, chewing and swallowing it down before saying, "I knew I married a winner. You cook, you clean," she glances around the room, "sometimes _and_ you're good in bed?"

Peter laughs, Michelle pointing her fork towards him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're too good to be true."

Peter winks, crossing his arms as he leans forward, whispering to her in a way that he hopes is seductive and not cheesy, "Finish your lunch a little quicker and I can show you how good I really am."

Michelle gives him a look, putting her fork down as Peter's eyes widen - surprised that his terrible line had actually worked only for her to say, "I would, but I know you're not _that_ good."

She mirrors his stance, folding her arms together. "You're lying to me, for one."

Peter immediately freezes, debating with himself how far he can take this when she says, "I got forty-three minutes, Pete and I'm not really looking forward to going back to work pissed off after a fight so let's just cut the bullshit alright?"

She leans forward even further, Peter watching silently as she whispers, "You wanna tell me what's really going on?"

Peter grinds his teeth for a second before he sighs, his shoulders sagging as he shakes his head. "It's stupid."

"Tell me and I'll tell you if it's stupid." Michelle says, Peter meeting her eyes as he takes a deep breath.

"I just," Peter tries to find the words to say, shifting his eyes elsewhere as he says, "I'm really glad I chose to say home, I am. I love being Ben's dad and I love being here for him."

He glances back to her to see her response but Michelle - well-trained in investigation it seems - has a completely neutral look on her face, waiting for him to continue.

"And I love that my being home means that you get to go back to your job. It was my idea, it's... I love it."

"But...?" Michelle gently prods, Peter sighing again as he brings his hands up to put his head in them.

"But... it's just a lot harder than I thought it was going to be." He lifts his head up, seeing the way her eyes flicker with concern as he says, "Not taking care of Ben, exactly. He's... he's fine. Nothing's wrong."

He points towards the living room again before saying, "This isn't even that big of a deal, I have all day to clean up. I'm not-- I'm not trying to say anything like you're not--"

"Stop trying to qualify what you're saying and just say it, Pete." Michelle gently says, Peter knowing she's running low on time but also sees right through his tendency to try and avoid the conversation he knows they need to have.

"I just... kind of wish I had something _else_ you know? Something else I could still be doing." Peter whispers, gently tapping his fingers against the kitchen table. "Ever since I was sixteen, I've been balancing... I don't know, the whole fucking _world_ on my shoulders it felt like. Spider-Man, school, working part-time with SI."

Peter meets her eyes, extending a hand out that she immediately takes, squeezing it gently before saying, "I know I should be glad that I don't have anything else taking my time away from Ben or from you. I hate how fucking _awful_ this sounds."

Michelle nods as she understands. "But you're not used to it."

Peter's shoulders sag even more. "I'm not, no. And I'm sorry, I know this isn't how you wanted to spend your lunch when--"

Michelle immediately stops him, squeezing his hand. "Peter, we're married. This is _exactly_ why I love coming home to spend time with you."

Peter just blinks at that statement when she says, "You think I haven't noticed that you were feeling... antsy?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Peter asks, curious but also wondering if there would ever be a time in his life when Michelle didn't seem to know more about him than he knew about himself.

"Cause I wanted to be sure I wasn't just projecting my own bullshit about _not_ being home with you." Michelle answers honestly, Peter seeing the small shade of insecurity flash behind her eyes when he squeezes her hand.

"MJ, that's not--"

“I know." She affirms, leaning forward. "And I know you telling me this isn't a way to guilt me into anything or like you're trying to make me feel like you don't want to stay home."

Peter bites his lips, Michelle squeezing his hand once more before saying, "It's okay to not know what to do with yourself, Pete. _Especially_ since you've been running around the city, around the _universe_ for the past ten years."

Peter smiles at that, gently running his thumb across her hand. "You'd think I'd be better at communicating by now."

Michelle laughs, smiling before saying, "Not any better than me apparently."

Peter smiles back, leaning forward until their lips touch - a gentle kiss, her hands warm in his.

As he leans back, staring into her eyes - he knows this isn't the end of the conversation, the ticking clock on her lunch hour running like an invisible timer in the background.

But there's something solid between them now, a threshold that Peter feels like they crossed - yet another reminder that for all the reasons that he's grateful that he married Michelle Jones, her willingness to call him out on his bullshit was still one of his favorite things.

Michelle smiles once more before letting go of his hand, picking up the fork to dive back into the pasta he'd made when she says, "Speaking of communication, you wanna make good on your promise from earlier?"

Peter furrows his eyebrows, watching as she takes another bite before setting the fork down. "Hm?"

Michelle stands, nodding towards their bedroom. "You said that if I finished my lunch quickly enough, you'd show me exactly how good you were."

Peter widens his eyes once more, grinning as he says, "Yeah, I think we can work something out."


End file.
